History of Economic Thought // Spring 2025
marcio.santetti@emerson.edu
Timeline:
Thomas Robert Malthus (1766—1834):
Born in Surrey (south of London, England);
Son of Daniel Malthus, highly influenced by Enlightenment writers;
Mostly trained in Mathematics;
Minister of the Church of England;
Taught Political Economy at East India College.
An Essay on the Principle of Population, As It Affects the Future Improvement of Society With Remarks on the Speculations of Mr. Godwin, M. Condorcet, and Other Writers (1798)
The “perfectibility” hypothesis
William Godwin (1756—1836)
Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794)
A mathematical argument against the perfectibility hypothesis
Logical argument resting on two postulates:
Population grows geometrically (exponentially), if left unchecked;
Food production cannot sustain more than an arithmetic pattern.
However, checks:
Preventive checks: lowering the birth rate.
Positive checks: controlling population growth.
The Elizabethan Poor Laws (1601)
Speenhamland system (1795)
Helping the poor vs. natural law
Last paragraph of the Essay:
“Evil exists in the world not to create despair but activity. We are not patiently to submit to it, but to exert ourselves to avoid it. It is not only the interest but the duty of every individual to use his utmost efforts to remove evil from himself and from as large a circle as he can influence, and the more he exercises himself in this duty, the more wisely he directs his efforts, and the more successful these efforts are, the more he will probably improve and exalt his own mind and the more completely does he appear to fulfil the will of his Creator.” (pp. 124-125)